


jack of hearts

by shouldbeworking



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Knifeplay, M/M, Post-Canon, Sexual Content, Smoking, because this world needs more older!shuakes and by god i shall provide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:15:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shouldbeworking/pseuds/shouldbeworking
Summary: “What do you want, Joker?” Goro snarls down at him, canines bared, and Ren’s messed-up heart decides this is the moment to shift into a faster gear.“What do you think? A little birdie told me you were lurking around, so I had to see for myself.”—The hunt, the dance, the game. 20 years later, they’re still playing.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 22
Kudos: 479





	jack of hearts

Neon lights. Wet asphalt. Raucous shouts and laughter from the crowded shops and bars on this street, disguising his footsteps.

Ren has ideas, suspicions, expectations for what awaits him somewhere in this city. For what’s in store for him tonight. But this part, the calm, the anticipation, the _hunt_ … this part is its own type of fun.

Usually.

The thing is: he’s been at this for a while now. His target is making it more challenging than he usually does. That’s the game, Ren knows it is, but Ren is also not as young as he used to be and if he has to walk much longer on this wet asphalt, in this misty city, his knees are going to bother him tomorrow.

Hey, living an exciting life doesn’t mean one is absolved of boring problems.

Ren finally spots him in an alley, tucked away beside a closed clothing store. He stands out in the way that he doesn’t, too professionally hidden for an ordinary man. As if Ren could look away from him anyway: dark trousers just a hair too tight, black collared shirt stretched across a broad chest… there’s something about the picture—perhaps the clothes, perhaps the way the shadows cast sharp edges over Goro Akechi’s face—that reminds Ren of a time long past.

Goro takes another drag of his cigarette before announcing serenely: “you kept me waiting.”

“If you wanted to see me so badly you should have chosen a more obvious place to hide,” Ren hums, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning casually against the alley wall.

“Now, where’s the fun in that?”

Ren plucks the cigarette from between Goro’s fingers, brings it to his lips.

Takes a deep breath in. And out.

It feels wonderful. It always does. The calming smoke filling his lungs, the chill in the air, the lingering taste of his… rival. But this is also an indulgence, a dangerous one. He has a job to do, information to gather, so Ren flicks the cigarette to the ground and crushes it beneath his heel.

After the hunt comes the dance.

“Awfully rude to destroy a gift freely given,” Goro snarks.

“Smoke doesn’t suit me.” _Or you._ “Got anything else I can have?”

“As a matter of fact—”

And that’s how Ren finds himself pinned up against a dirty wall in the middle of the night with the point of a knife pricking at his stomach. Ornate, curved, silver, and oh-so-familiar… rude, who’s the thief now?

“What do you want, Joker?” Goro snarls down at him, canines bared, and Ren’s messed-up heart decides this is the moment to shift into a faster gear.

He pulls on the smirk that matches his old knife, runs a finger along its smooth edge. There’s no real threat here, Ren knows that, but damn if Goro Akechi doesn’t look even more handsome with a sharp object in his hand. “What do you think? A little birdie told me you were lurking around, so I had to see for myself.”

“And?”

“And I was promised a rematch.”

Goro’s handsome grin becomes tainted with a bit of wildness. “You expect me to fall for that old line?” He says as he draws nearer, wilder. “Why are you really here? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Hmm,” Ren dares to push forward to meet him, finds the knife is about as dangerous as he expected. “And yet you said you were waiting for me.”

The signs are subtle. Things like this usually are with Goro. A hitch of breath, a slight, calculating flicker of the eyes.

_Come on, give in._

The knife disappears. “Don’t take too long, and make sure you’re not followed,” Goro says, shoving a keycard into Ren’s hand.

He leaves quickly, without so much as a glance backward.

Ren is so damn lucky.

The card is to a hotel he recognizes. The two of them have graced that particular building before, they’ve danced this dance before, slight variations in step and tune. Ren takes the long way there, avoiding the temptation to check his phone as he goes—if there was anything he needed to know Oracle would have called, after all. Better to stay focused.

Focused. So focused. So goddamn focused that Goro gets the jump on him, again, pinning him to a surface _again_. Someone is certainly feeling fiesty tonight. The back of Ren’s head makes contact with the hotel room door and he manages one surprised, stupid “ _hn?_ ” before his mouth is otherwise occupied.

Smoke, mint to hide the smoke, wet rain, cheap coffee (disappointing, but not unexpected), mint to hide the cheap coffee, Goro.

“Slow _down_ ,” Ren chuckles, murmurs against his lips. He takes hold of the hands making quick work of his blazer. “There’s no reason to rush. Unless you know something I don’t?”

Goro stills, shakes his head. “Force of habit. It’s been too long,” he replies coyly. Cute.

They make their way away from the door, taking their time, savoring a closeness their lives don’t often afford them. Ren purrs as Goro’s fingers thread through his hair, pushing this way and that.

“You’re going grey, Joker” Goro murmurs. He really is into this, isn’t he? So cute.

“It’s called silver, Crow,” Ren corrects, as if Goro weren’t already aware. “I’m distinguished. Some people like that, you know.”

 _Like you_.

This is an old rhythm for them, one that never gets old. Lips locked, trading breath, hands everywhere… genuine enthusiasm masking careful calculation, ulterior motives. Ren hasn’t forgotten his mission—at least, he’s really trying not to—but there is a reason why it’s so often the two of them that end up head to head like this, locked in battle.

Sojiro Sakura likes to say they’re akin to an unstoppable force and immovable object: invincible, except to each other.

“How long are you staying?” Ren asks, eyeing the overnight bag tucked into the corner of the nondescript hotel room. Count on Goro Akechi to be prepared.

“I could ask the same of you.”

“You wouldn’t get an answer.”

Goro’s annoyed, outstandingly sarcastic laugh sends a chill down Ren’s spine. “Then how about this: _why_ exactly are you here?”

“For you, darling.”

Oops. Too much.

“Don’t try that on me now, _Joker_.” Goro snarls. He grabs him abruptly, brazenly, digs the heel of his hand against Ren’s cock and oh, _god_ , it really has been a while, hasn’t it? Ren swallows down the whimper he’d only just managed to trap in his throat…

…and notices embarrassingly late that Goro was using the distraction to rifle his way through Ren’s pockets. Sneaky, sneaky. Ren catches the wandering wrist, leaves the other to keep working. “You really think I’d keep anything on me?”

“I think you’re that stupid, yes,” He murmurs quietly into his ear and releases him, takes Ren’s hand instead, places a gentle kiss on the back of his fingers. “You’re here, aren’t you?”

Goro Akechi is going to kill him. Again.

“You’re worth the risk,” Ren says, and leads them both to the bed.

This is an old rhythm too. Goro’s gorgeous hair fanned out on a pillow, Ren peppering his inner thighs with light kisses, forcing them to take their time despite every fiber of his body telling him to rush, hurry, faster, _faster._

“Joker,” Goro sighs. “I know why you’re here, you know what I want, and we both know which of us will win in the end. So— _mn_ , right there—so why don’t you save us both some time and tell me what I want to hear?”

Ha. The hunt. The dance. Then, finally, the game. “You know it doesn’t work like that,” Ren says, giving Goro’s thigh a playful little bite. “But you’ve been so good for me that I’ll give you a hint.“

Red eyes widen, light up in interest…

“It’s a club.”

…And dim again. “You tease,” he sneers.

“Come on, Crow, won’t you give me something in return?”

“Am I not enough?” Goro sits up, fires back with a little effort. It’s Ren’s turn to fall onto the bed now, rough, bare hands spread across his chest, powerful thighs trapping his hips.

Oh god, he’d thought they’d prepped enough but Goro is still so _tight._

“Which club, Joker? Tell me,” Goro shudders as he begins to move. Ren’s hands can’t decide between Goro’s chest, his waist, his hands, his hips, his ass, it’s not enough—he needs more hands, he needs more Goro, he needs Goro to move faster, harder.

“You’re beautiful,” Ren tells him.

Goro slips a hand under the untouched pillow beside them and suddenly there’s a knife at Ren’s throat, oh holy _shit_.

“Time is up. Tell me what you know.”

Ren gasps… something? He’s completely lost, lost in Goro, the knife, Goro, Goro.

“The club, Joker.”

Club?

“Specifics, I need a name!”

Name…?

“Or can you speak at all?” Goro sneers, rolling his hips. Ren feels the slight pinprick bite under his jaw, tilts his head up higher, stretches his neck, Ren is still _inside_ him. “Look at you… you sought me out, you came to this room, you put yourself in danger so willingly because you can’t resist me, you’re mine, _mine_ —”

_Mine._

In a fluid, practiced motion, Ren snatches his old knife and flips them around, wastes no time burying himself back into Goro, as deeply as he can.

“ _Ah!_ ”

“You’re right, I can’t resist,” Ren growls possessively, silver metal shining, dancing around Goro’s neck with precision. Ren was always better with knives, and this knife in particular might as well be an extension of his body. “So why don’t you surrender to me, Crow? I can make you feel amazing, you know I can.”

“Go _fuck yourself.”_

Ren throws the knife to the floor, sets a punishing pace, and Goro gasps so prettily, arching his back off the bed. Ren has him now, he knows that, this game is almost over, but decades of negotiation experience are hanging just out of reach. “You like that? You want more?” He says brainlessly instead, expending an extraordinary amount of effort and sanity to slow his hips to a roll. “Tell me the code.”

“Fuck… you,” Goro snarls as he catches his breath.

Ren grabs a fistful of his gorgeous hair, yanks. “What was that?” And again, just how Goro likes it.

“ _Mn!_ ”

“What, Crow?”

“Ja—J-Joker,” a familiar fire lights behind his eyes and “harder,” Goro demands. “ _Harder_.”

Ren complies. He can’t resist.

There’s a small part of his mind, whatever remains of it at this point, which whispers that if Ren wants to win he should probably stop. He should slow down again, really torture the information out of Goro, but… _ha_ , that’s just not an option tonight. He feels himself getting close, can tell Goro is too, his expression relaxed and tense at once, open and vulnerable in a way he only deigns to show off during sex.

Ren did that.

This is Ren’s, always Ren’s, only Ren’s, years and years of this, Ren alone, Goro Akechi is _his_.

Ren can make him feel even better.

He hooks one of Goro’s legs over his shoulders, presses past the tension behind his knee, braces a hand against the headboard. _Harder, harder_. Goro howls, claws his fingers into the pillow beneath his head. “ _Fuck!_ ”

“Tell me, Goro. Say it,” Ren commands, more for the high they’ll both get from the order than a real answer.

“ _No_ ,” Goro moans beneath him. He’s thrashing, trembling, Ren knows he’s close, so close, so close.

 _Come on, come on,_ “say it!”

“Ren—”

“ _Say it!!_ ”

“ _Ah—!_ ” Goro’s wordless cry cuts off as he finally tightens, contorts, curls in on himself. Ren follows quickly, tipping forward into the crook of Goro’s neck as pleasure incapacitates him, heaving out his relief and exhaustion into the humid heat of Goro’s skin.

And then he kind of just… stays there for a while.

Takes a deep breath in. And out.

He could stay here forever, right?

Ren does manage to collect himself, eventually. He turns his head and meets Goro—beautiful, incredible, perfect Goro—in a tired, languid kiss, more sharing breath than anything else.

“Ready?”

Goro groans an affirmative, so Ren eases himself out and melts down into the bed beside him.

“ _Fuck._ ”

“Yeah.”

“Stalemate, then?”

“Stalemate,” Ren confirms.

“Alright. What was yours?”

“Five. Five of clubs. You?”

Goro shifts lazily to digs into a pocket in his discarded trousers, tosses a playing card on the bed. “Jack of hearts.”

Ren can’t contain his surprised laugh. “You kept it in your… and you called me stupid for—!” Damn it all, if only he’d done exactly what Goro had, taken a moment to search him… he’d have won easily!

“What can I say? I like a challenge,” Goro smiles.

“Jack of hearts…” Ren thinks back to one particular moment. “I almost had you, didn’t I?”

“Close only counts in—”

“Horseshoes and hand grenades,” he finishes for Goro with a tired smile. “Never change.”

The hunt, the dance, this game they play: it’s all quite simple, really. Draw from a deck of cards, then roleplay the name of card they’d pulled out of each other. It usually devolves into ridiculousness—that’s the whole point, after all—but this is the first time their game has ever ended in a stalemate.

The long drought probably had something to do with that.

Ren closes his eyes, hears Goro shuffling around, allows himself to drift.

It’s nice. This bed is nice. It’s not theirs, but it’s still nice. He’s so tired.

Drifting…

“Futaba texted. The kids are in bed, two hours late.”

“Shh, I’m still in the afterglow,” Ren murmurs.

Two hours late… better than expected. At least they’re in bed at all.

Beyond the issue of finding time for sex— _real_ sex, not a quickie in the shower or during naptime—Ren feels like he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in years. Late nights up with the baby turned into late nights wrangling the toddler to bed turned into late nights trying convince the damn kid to _sleep_ , and then they were stupid enough to decide to do it all a second time. The little terrors are lucky they’re so adorable. Plus…

Ren opens one eye to take a peek. Goro’s wedding band has rematerialized on his finger already, he’s staring at his phone—at a photo of their children, Ren is sure, from the soft smile on his face.

Another very selfish benefit is that fatherhood has always looked incredible on Goro Akechi.

Ren rolls over, rests his chin on Goro’s chest. “Another round? I want my husband tonight, too.”

Goro peers down at him. He places his phone back on the nightstand, sighs and stretches contentedly. “Hmm.”

Ren scoots closer to his face. “You’re cute.”

“I’m about twenty years past _cute_ , Ren,” Goro huffs.

“Nah, you’re cute. We have the room all night, you know,” Ren tries again.

“Mhm.”

“All night, just us, no work, no kids, no interruptions~”

_Come on, give in._

Breath hitches, eyes flicker.

“Alright, fine, you’ve convinced me.” Goro chuckles, looking Ren up and down. “But take your damn clothes off this time, would you? I haven’t seen you naked outside the fucking shower in weeks.”

“Watch that language, daddy.”

“Oh god, _no_ , shut the fuck up,” Goro laughs, and pulls him down into another kiss.

Ren is so damn lucky.


End file.
